Presentation on Lift One Lodge in Aspen planned for P&Z meeting

ASPEN – Developers of the Lift One Lodge will provide what’s described as an “orientation” on their new plans for the timeshare project at Tuesday’s Aspen Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, set for 4:30 p.m. at City Hall.Chris Bendon, the city’s director of community development, and Drew Alexander, a city planner, said in a memorandum to P&Z commissioners that the meeting likely would be one of several on the project. A public hearing also is planned Tuesday.”The presentation will cover the history of the project, the changes the project has undergone, details on the uses, program and architectural character of the proposal and an overview of the reviews necessary,” the memo states. “The public hearing portion of tonight’s meeting can be used to permit members of the public to likewise orient themselves to the project and identify items that they would like to know more about.”The presentation initially was to have been held in April. The city decided to postpone it because of the May 3 municipal election in which two P&Z members were running for City Council, which will ultimately decide the fate of the project. Neither candidate was elected and so the uncertainty surrounding the makeup of the council has been removed.The project has been in the planning stages for several years. What P&Z members and the public will hear about Tuesday is a much scaled-down version of the original concepts, which were controversial due to the project’s size. At one point, plans called for 35 units; the final application asks for approval of 22 timeshare units and five free-market units.The project has been moving through the city’s planning process since 2006. The council gave it conceptual approval in late 2009, when the floor area for the lodge, employee-housing building and a museum for the Aspen Historical Society was listed at 123,693 square feet. The new plan puts the floor area at 85,514 square feet – a 31 percent reduction.The development site would be at the foot of Aspen Mountain on South Aspen Street between East Dean and Hill streets, just north of Lift 1A. It includes five parcels of land, two that are city-owned and three that are privately owned. The project is expected to generate about 38 jobs. Sixteen employees will be housed in the converted Skiers Chalet Steakhouse, one of two historic buildings on the site that will be rehabilitated as part of the development plan. The remaining employees will be provided housing within Aspen’s Urban Growth Boundary.Included in the information packet to P&Z members is a letter from local attorney Eben P. Clark, who represents the Silver Shadow Condominium Association. The association is concerned about the new plan, he wrote, because it calls for a taller building that’s closer to the Silver Shadow.”This new configuration was not approved in the previous conceptual approval,” Clark states in the June 1 letter. “Therefore, the commission should review the height and massing as a new project.”The lodge building rises 12 feet higher than previously designed, he says. “This increase will have a significant effect on the sunlight and views of Shadow Mountain for Silver Shadow and the neighboring properties to the east of the project.”asalvail@aspentimes.com